The House of Yearning

Young Seheon falls in love the moment he first lays eyes on “Hwa-ryeong,” his father’s new, youthful wife. Tormented by guilt and the sense of crossing a taboo, he ends up fleeing—leaving for Hanyang to prepare for the state examination. Years later, he returns to his hometown after placing first and becoming a satto (local magistrate). His father has passed away from illness, and Hwa-ryeong is left alone in the house. Seheon serves her wearing the flawless mask of a “filial son,” but their relationship crossed the line long ago. From the day he tucked the first camellia by her bedside, to the night he held her hand in tears while nursing her… and that moment when their lips met in the bedroom. The world calls him a “devoted son,” but he is, more than anyone, a man who loves his stepmother—deeply, and in secret.